Mistaken teen opinion of police
leads to lack of communication
by Elaine Wolfe
reprinted from the November 22, 1966
Automobile Show supplement to the
Oregon Journal
Teenagers have the mistaken idea that
the police are out to get them. “We try
to do what can best be done to help re
habilitate the young person. We don’t
want to do anything that will hit him in
the face later in life,” stated Lyle B. Mul
lin, juvenile traffic court referee, while
speaking of the purpose of juvenile crim
inology.
Those teenagers who squirrel restau
rants and drag Broadway may not be
lieve that the police are looking out for
them, not to hinder but to help. This
basic lack of communication is the main
source of troubling relationships be
tween teenagers and police.
Mr. Mullin, who was appointed by a
traffic court judge to serve in that posi
tion, believes that citizenship is one of
the main objectives of his court. A stu
dent’s previous record including his
school grades, attendance and effort are
taken into consideration.
It would be impossible to know a great
deal about every one of the 1,000 odd
violators which appear monthly in court,
but “we do try to know something about
each of them.” This helps to provide a
just penalty for the juvenile. “We try
to see what’s behind the figures,” stated
Mr. Mullin.
The penalties are much harder on ju
veniles than they are on adults. It is
not so much the harshness of the judge
ment passed by the court, but more that
of the pressures it brings to bear upon
the individual.
In adult court a violator is fined for
his traffic violations and his license is
not suspended on either the first or sec
ond violation of the year.
Whereas the only penalty that can be
served upon a juvenile is suspension of
his license. Mr. Mullin feels that a teen
ager will become more aware and care
ful of his driving when he knows his
license is at stake than when a fine is his
only penalty.
License suspension means cutting the
teenager off from his activities, social
and otherwise. Far more important re
sults of license suspension, however, is
the higher insurance rates and the in
ability to achieve certain positions or
appointments because of a disqualifying
question on a form asking if your license
has ever been suspended.
Few juveniles seem to realize these
far-raching consequences, and a traffic
violation still remains “no big deal.”
This apathetic view is taken by adult
drivers also.
“If adults set the right example, juven
iles will do the right thing,” believes Mr.
Mullin. Will these same apathetic drivers
feel the same way when they accident
ally run a stop sign and hit a pedestrian?
Each year the volume of accidents ex
ceeds that of the previous year. Each
year more of the blame seems to fall on
the drivers under the age of 18. Actually
during 1965, of the 46,215 traffic acci
dents taking place in Portland only 2,370
involved drivers under the age of 18,
while 9,828 accidents involved drivers
between the ages of 18 and 24.
Those people who pose the answer to
this problem of increasing traffic acci
dents as raising the driving age from 16
to 18 should observe the above statistics
taken from the Summary of Motor Ve
hicle Traffic Accidents Report published
by the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The solution to this problem lies deeper
than legislation can dig up.
One very effective method of provid
ing juvenile traffic violators with a law
abiding incentive is an institution known
as the traffic school. Of the 1,080 cases
of juvenile traffic violations last month,
480 violators were sent to this school,
which is conducted by policemen every
Saturday in the basement of the police
station.
Successful as this school is no one has
yet been willing to provide larger facil
ities for it. The small classroom in the
police station will hold at the most 45
students.
The police are willing to further staff
the school to meet its growing student
enrollment, yet there is no more space
to allow for either students or teachers.
This situation provides the juvenile traf
fic court program with its most disturb
ing deficiency.
While speaking of major difficulties in
the program, Mr. Mullin stated, “Citizens
only want traffic enforcement for others,
not for themselves.”
People are ready and willing to be pro
tected from other drivers, but not for
others to be protected from themselves.
Traffic law enforcement is for everyone
without concentrating on either adult or
juvenile offenders.
^u.it
December 2, 1966
THE GRANTONIAN
ßitn— not
driving.
On The Shelf
by Cynthia Barrett
Nader probes auto safety deficiency
“The Designed-In Dangers of the
American Automobile” is the subtitle
and the subject Ralph Nader’s shocking
book Unsafe At Any Speed. It reveals
how and why manufacturers have been
stalling safe automobile designing, and
gives examples of bad design in all mod
els and makes of cars.
Most injuries occur when the pas
senger slams against the interior of
the car during a collision. By elim
ination of certain features of car
design, many injuries can be avoid
ed.
“For years,” Mr. Nader writes, “the
most common feature of crumpled auto
mobiles has been a rearward displaced
or arched steering column with broken
spokes . . He mentions impalement and
broken necks as some of its effects.
Another common car danger is
the glove compartment. In a colli
sion it can fall open and severely
cut the forward-falling passenger.
Mr. Nader believes complete elim
ination of the dashboard in front of
the right forward seat would solve
this difficulty and allow the passen
ger freedom from the “dash-smashed
face.”
“Newness” in automobiles is “almost
Students’ insurance rates depend on individual
by Lorna Viken
Participating in school and how one’s
time is spent are plus-factors for auto
mobile insurance rate discounts. Factors
determining insurance rates for younger
drivers were learned in interviews with
representatives of Famers Insurance
Letters to the Editor
Mr. Read
Grant High School
Art Department
2245 N. E. 36 Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97212
Dear Mr. Read:
The active participation of the Grant
High School Art Department in promot
ing National Zip Code Week was a major
factor in making this program a local
success.
The cooperation shown is deeply ap
preciated, and we wish to thank you and
the students for your contribution to this
worthy program.
Sincerely yours,
H. W. Morgan
for Albert Hodler,
Postmaster
Generalities
Junior Steve Tyrer won the national
Amateur Athletic Union walking cham
pionships in the 19 and under division
last weekend at Berkeley, California.
Group, Safeco, and State Farm insurance
companies.
Why does today’s generation of
youthful drivers pay two to three
times more for their insurance pre
mium than older drivers?
“Insurance companies do not make
rates. Rates are made by drivers of auto
mobiles,” stated Gordon Dunsire of
Safeco Insurance company.
But youthful drivers are healthy,
alert, willing, eager, trained, and
have faster reflexes. In all fairness,
shouldn’t it be concluded that
younger drivers are better drivers?
A nationally conducted survey for
1965 shows that drivers under 25, 18 per
cent of all drivers, were involved in
more than 30 per cent of the fatal acci
dents and more than 28 per cent of the
nonfatal accidents.
How is it possible that one age
group spanning nine years, about
one-fifth of all drivers, is involved
in almost one-third of all fatal acci
dents?
Young drivers have tendencies to take
chances. Failure to observe traffic rules
takes a toll of youthful drivers. They
lack experience and judgment, accord
ing to information provided by Duane
Peterson, of State Farm Insurance.
“They might not realize that
chances for an accident almost dou
ble after a speed increase from 60
to 70 m.p.h. At this increase rate,
only four minutes would be saved
in a 30 mile trip,” explained Mr.
Peterson.
Also determining a driver’s insurance
3
rates are the number and cost of acci
dents he has had. According to Mr. Pe
terson, it has been found that accident
damage involving drivers under 25 is
three and one-half times more costly.
Men are involved in more than
six times as many fatal accidents as
women. Doesn’t this mean that
women are the better drivers?
“No one knows how many miles are
driven each year by the average male or
female driver nor under what conditions
the driving is done,” pointed out Mr.
Dunsire.
Anyway, aren’t girls better insurance
risks?
“Although boys do have more acci
dents, an increase in accidents involving
girl drivers has raised their premium
rates 30 per cent in the last one and one-
half years,” observed Terry Rude repre
sentative of Farmers Insurance Group.
“In determining rates for individuals,
where you drive, how much you drive,
when you drive, how you use the car,
and how much coverage you want are
considered,” stated Mr. Dunsire.
Rates may increase with traffic cita
tions. A pattern recognized by the 1964
California Driver Record Study shows
that drivers with three convictions in the
last three years are three times as likely
to have an accident as a driver with no
convictions.
“If everybody would be just a little
more careful when driving, insurance
rates would be reduced for all of us,”
assured Mr. Rude.
“Good driving is no accident,” added
Mr. Peterson.
completely stylistic in content,” and this
relegates safety considerations to a sec
ondary role, Mr. Nader maintains. “Styl
ists can even be credited with overall
concepts that result in a whole new va
riety of hazards,” he continues, referring
to hardtop convertibles that crumple in
ward in roll-over accidents, crushing oc
cupants.
Traditional safety traffic empha
sis has been placed on the driver.
Readers who are taking drivers’ ed
ucation realize this. Mr. Nader calls
the emphasis “a political strategy”
defending “special interests,” not
ably the automotive manufacturers
of America.
They subordinate safety to profit, he
asserts, and offers documentation to sup
port his accusation. He especially lam-
basts existing traffic safety organiza
tions, who form an “establishment” dom
inated by auto manufacturers.
The car should be designed to protect
the man in accidents that are inevitable.
Existing cars put unnecessary dangers in
the passengers’ way. An uninformed pub
lic once accepted safety concentration on
the driver.
Since the advent of Unsafe At Any
Speed, coupled with well publicized Sen
ate hearings on traffic safety, public
knowledge has been broadened' and its
interest quickened. Two important
breakthroughs in the field of vehicle
safety design have been made this year.
The Federal government has been
given control of car safety standards and
is able to require states to include their
standards in the state safety program.
Mr. Nader predicted this in advocating
“greater federal authority extending to
the establishment and enforcement of
safety standards.”
Ralph Nader is a 32-year-old Connecti
cut attorney who has been described as
a “crusader” and “loner.” As an adviser
to a Senate subcommittee investigating
traffic safety, and as a Congressional
witness, he has been agitating for vehicle
safety laws.
tan
Published weekly by the advanced jour
nalism class of Ulysses S. Grant high
school, room 203, 2245 N.E. 36th Avenue,
Portland, Oregon 97212. Phone 288-5975.
Printed by Modern Typesetting company
with a circulation of 3000. Second-class
postage paid at Portland, Oregon. Sub
scription cost $2.00 per year.
Vol. 69, No. 12 — December 2, 1966
Editor............................. Barbara Earnest
1st Page Editor................Gayle Fleming
2nd Page Editor..................Elaine Wolfe
3rd Page Editor..............Cecile O'Rourke
4th Page Editor............... Mike Hoffman
Reporters ........................ Cindy Barrett
Bonnie Brown, Mike Cochrane, Casey
Coughlin, Cynthia Evans, Cynthia
Froom, Mary Jane Hulett, Marilyn
Leonard, Lorna Viken
Business Mgr........................ Marilyn Best
Circulation ........................... Lorna Viken
Photographer ................. Blake Riscoe
Cynthia Evans
Adviser ............................... Willard Mohn